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Intel's 'Larrabee' a candidate processor for the NEXT generation game consoles?
http://tinyurl.com/29lwux
By Dean Takahashi Intel CEO Paul Otellini finally talked up Larrabee today at the Intel Developer Forum. This code-named graphics-CPU combination chip has dozens of cores capable of running as many as 64 threads, (think programs), at the same time. Unlike the upcoming Fusion chip from Advanced Micro Devices, which combines a CPU and a graphics chip on a single chip, Larrabee consists of a bunch of Intel x86 cores on a chip that are capable of either CPU or graphics processing. Programmers can determine how they will use those cores at any given time. Larrabee will certainly have implications for graphics giant Nvidia. But its timing in 2008 with 45-nanometer technology is just in time for consideration in the next generation of video game consoles. Everyone knows that all of the game console makers are hard at work designing their next game consoles. If you recall, IBM said last year that it was working on a 32-core version of the Cell microprocessor for a few years from now. I figure that will represent IBM's pitch to Sony to use another IBM chip in the PlayStation 4. Intel certainly doesn't want to be left out again, so it may want to position Larrabee as a chip for a video game console. (FYI, 2008 isn't a launch date for anybody's new console, but the console makers will want to use a high- end chip that has been cost reduced and debugged for a least a year or two or more). Justin Rattner, chief technology officer at Intel, said that Larrabee could indeed prove useful for devices beyond the PC such as a video game console. He noted how Larrabee would be more focused on processing tasks, in contrast to the floating-point calculation focused Cell processors from IBM-Toshiba-Sony. And if we believe reports that Sony is shopping its Cell chip factory to Toshiba and others, then we might conclude Sony might be ready to consider other processor architectures the next time around. This is all rank speculation, of course, but fun food for thought. Rattner said that Larrabee would be based on the familiar IA architecture that programmers know well. He also noted that games require a lot of physics processing these days, something Larrabee would be good at. In general, he thinks that the PCs and game consoles will come together architecturally, now that all are embracing multiple cores. http://tinyurl.com/29lwux |
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Intel's 'Larrabee' a candidate processor for the NEXT generationgame consoles?
AirRaid wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/29lwux By Dean Takahashi Intel CEO Paul Otellini finally talked up Larrabee today at the Intel Developer Forum. This code-named graphics-CPU combination chip has dozens of cores capable of running as many as 64 threads, (think programs), at the same time. Unlike the upcoming Fusion chip from Advanced Micro Devices, which combines a CPU and a graphics chip on a single chip, Larrabee consists of a bunch of Intel x86 cores on a chip that are capable of either CPU or graphics processing. Programmers can determine how they will use those cores at any given time. Lots of core and threads, but I miss anything that indicates it will be x86 as we know it. The article clearly says an x86 subset with GPU extensions, a description which could mean anything from a 386 instruction set with vector FPU to... whatever. article: http://arstechnica.com/articles/paed...s-larrabee.ars slides: http://bt.pa.msu.edu/TM/BocaRaton2006/talks/davis.pdf -- Bill Davidsen He was a full-time professional cat, not some moonlighting ferret or weasel. He knew about these things. |
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Intel's 'Larrabee' a candidate processor for the NEXT generationgame consoles?
Bill Davidsen wrote:
Lots of core and threads, but I miss anything that indicates it will be x86 as we know it. The article clearly says an x86 subset with GPU extensions, a description which could mean anything from a 386 instruction set with vector FPU to... whatever. article: http://arstechnica.com/articles/paed...s-larrabee.ars slides: http://bt.pa.msu.edu/TM/BocaRaton2006/talks/davis.pdf AMD seems to be aiming at the same market with its Fusion chips. There will be a few CPU cores, but there will also be a GPU core which can be configured for physics operations rather than for graphics. It'll also be the equivalent of multiple mini-x86 cores when it comes to physics. Yousuf Khan |
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